Tour guide
Tour Guide Volunteers for Cranleigh Cottage Hospital
Overview
The plan created by the trustees of the Cranleigh Heritage Trust is to convert the small 15th
century structure into a well-being community hub. It will also have discreet sensory
heritage displays revealing its unique architectural and medical history. This building is a
Time Machine. Recent surveys suggest the building started as a kitchen block for a larger
house nearby. Then it became a residential property. By the 18th century it was possibly used
by local deacons at the nearby St Nicholas Church. This all changed in the Victorian era when
the local vicar Rev Sapte donated the building to Doctor Albert Napper, and it became the
world’s first ever Cottage Hospital.
Dr Napper’s radical concept for treatment for the local rural poor in this cottage, rather than
transporting injured patients to big hospitals, had a big impression on the founding of the
NHS. The cottage was used as a small hospital ward from 1859 to around 1901 when the
Village Hospital expanded into the present NHS site. The Little Cottage became a nurses’ rest
room and later a storeroom. This autumn there will be a repair and refurbishment of the
structure to save the building funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and other
grants.
Using information from research volunteers and props from the sensory objects volunteers
we need guide tour volunteers to work alongside the small heritage team to develop guided
tours (sensory and role-play) for adults and school children. Some experience working with
the public will be useful, training will be given.
Hours: flexible and to fit your availability
Objectives of the role:
• To provide a warm welcome to Cranleigh Cottage Hospital and engage the public in
its heritage using tours during 2026
• Create unique guided tours with the possible use of props, role-play techniques and
possibly pre-recorded audio presentations
• Help deliver organised school visits to the site
The role involves:
• Provide a consistently high-quality welcome to all visitors
• Carry out tours of the building focusing on architectural and medical tours
• Using new research from other volunteer teams to inform the content for the tours
• Keeping a log of your working hours
We ask volunteers to:
• Uphold the ethos of the Cranleigh Cottage Hospital when dealing with local people
and with other volunteers
• Attend training sessions as necessary, some site visits are being planned.
• Adhere to any policies as requested by Cranleigh Heritage Trust staff
Cranleigh Cottage Hospital will:
• Provide full training and recording them
• Provide wider support as and when needed
• Keep you updated on overall policies, programme of events and exhibitions and
other information that might have an impact on your role
• Provide reasonable out of pocket travel expenses
You will enjoy this role if you:
• Are interested in local history
• Are interested in buildings conservation
• Enjoy working with children
• Have good communication skills and enjoy interacting with the public
• Enjoy working with others
• Willing to learn new skill
Wellbeing, Learning and Heritage
Reimagining the UK's first cottage hospital as a space for wellbeing, learning and heritage.
